New Years Weekend: Snowed In

Just before Will and I headed off to our respective trips, our family came to stay with us over New Years. A little bit of snow, before the past week's blizzard, made for a great photo shoot opportunity after wrapping dumplings and baking confetti cookies. To make that food combination even more unexpected, we started off with a cheese board. These are just some things you have to get used to when you're born in the US but grow up in an Chinese home!

Sunday Dialogues: 2017 in review

There's a keepsake box in my room, with vintage travel stamps and photos of Paris, London, and New York printed on. It's about the size of those WB Mason boxes that school printer paper comes in (you remember those). In it, you'll find a tattered Minnie Mouse folder with letters from a Swedish pen pal, a glittery blue bow from a tap dance recital, a pale yellow baby blanket, a Memorial Sloan-Kettering lanyard. A CD player my dad bought me for my ninth birthday, sticker books with most of the stickers plastered on the covers, my first cell phone, a stack of birthday cards, a Chinese Coca-Cola bottle cap.

Brown Butter Coconut Caramel

This sauce. 

If you've never eaten anything with brown butter, you're in for a real treat - even if you're not a caramel fan (which I am not). Brown butter, or beurre noisette, is more than just melted butter. The word "brown" refers to the caramelization of the milk solids, giving the butter a nutty, malty, sweet flavor. (Read a bit about the Maillard reaction, here.) The addition of the coconut? A fun twist that adds a subtle taste of the tropics (literally!), which I'm sure can be appreciated by anyone who spends November-March in the cold.

Drizzle this caramel over a holiday pie, ice cream, or popcorn. Layer it in a cake, swirl it into a cheesecake, the options are endless. My Christmas gift to you!

Ithaca Through The Seasons: Fall 2017

My favorite season

From Russia With Love (Pt II)

If you missed Part I of my three-part series, you can find it here!

Day two of Russia happened to be one of the three sunny days that St. Petersburg gets every year. How lucky were we?

Ginger-Chicken Meatballs with Chinese Broccoli

From Russia With Love (Pt I)

When I think of our time in St. Petersburg, I think of rain, intricate palaces, Easter eggs, stern customs officers, and our wonderful new friends we met through our tour group.

Ithaca Through the Seasons: Summer 2017

Adjusting to Ithaca was a task easier said than done. I missed my friends, routines, and environment at my old school. Starting over without knowing that I'd need to grow up and make my new school a home for myself was rough, but springtime in Ithaca brought more changes than just beautiful weather. Ithaca finally became home. Unfortunately, it was about time to leave!

Homemade Pasta

Homemade pasta with oven roasted tomatoes, homemade meatballs and tomato sauce, fresh basil and parsley

Sailing the Baltic Sea with Royal Caribbean

Today's the day! I'm so excited to finally share this video that I've been working on.

A Visual Walking Tour of Tallinn, Estonia

If you need some travel advice, Rick Steves is your guy. He's traveled everywhere. I first discovered him through his podcasts about Spain, and I knew to seek them once again when we were gearing up for Scandinavia and the Baltics.

Bits and Pieces

 Bits and pieces of the past month or so from my phone -  

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Meatballs, and Crispy Kale

White Bean and Barley Stew

Stockholm's Sights: Gamla Stan (Old Town) and Sveriges Kungahus (Royal Palace)

It's so easy to say that the grass is greener on the other side. 

There's no denying that Sweden, 

with its 202+ years of peace, beautiful Old Town, interior design, gender-equality, multi-lingual and well-dressed (in the "Oh, I just threw this on", unpretentious kind of way) citizens, 

merits its position as the world's 6th best country.

But wait: just edge your finger over your trackpad/mouse a little bit more. Who's the 7th? 

Stockholm's Sights: Djurgården

The first full week of school - done! Whether it's having more things to do, waking up to 40*F mornings, or simply the strange, new familiarity from picking things back up where I left them, the school year's officially in full swing, and it feels like I've never left. But regardless of how much work needs to be done, I've been catching myself drifting into memory land: walking up the steps of the Helsinki Cathedral, my morning chats with my paulistano and Mauritian buddies, and of course, looking over the viewpoint at Skansen, Stockholm's open-air museum, and seeing beautiful Stockholm peek out from behind the canopy of the trees (first photo). 

Summer Squash: French(ish) Ratatouille and a Roasted Italian Vegetable Sandwich

Summer squash, two ways. The first, a Disney-inspired ratatouille that's easier to make than it looks (I promise). The second is an even simpler meatless sandwich that both vegetarians and meat-lovers will like.

life at sea

watching Beauty & the Beast on the lido deck with my mom, wrapped in a Royal (blue) Caribbean blanket
(protection from the wild Baltic winds and 50*F weather)

Summer In My Kitchen 2017 | a photo journal

Things I've cooked and baked that won't quite make it to having their own recipe post:

Wilson's graduation cake

Peach galette

For Your Soul || inspiration, self-care, places to wander

Mercer County Park. Photos from my summer at home here.

"Slow living" in a fast paced culture isn't easy because you have to define what "slow" means for you. Here are some of the things I've been loving (to see, to make, to visit) that help me slow down and take it easy.

Other recent recommendations: For Your Eyes (books to read and videos to watch) and For Your Ears (music and podcasts)

To follow:

On Instagram, I've been loving the poetry shared by @nayyirah.waheed and the designs created by @a.crouse

To make: Sour Cherry Apple Muffins (recipe here)

To see: Carlos Zinelli’s artwork at the American Folk Art Museum (free entry and you're greeted by the sweetest security guards!)

To visit:

1. Your local library!
2. Labyrinth Books, Nassau St, Princeton, NJ: a posher version of NYC's Strand Books
3. Strand Books, Union Square, New York City, NY: get lost with four floors of books to browse through
4. MOMA Design Store (Soho location): a spot that my mom has taken to me a handful of times
5. Mercer County Park (specifically the Blue Trail through the woods)

Is it obvious yet that I love books and bookstores? I was able to rekindle my love for reading with the start of 2017, but furthermore with extra time this summer. As much as I love owning a book, I have to be fully honest by saying that I rarely bring myself to reread most of the books already on my shelf (with the exception of The Prisoner of Azkaban...that I reread at least once a year) - that’s why I list the local library first!

At the same time, I live in a small town with an older library, so the selections aren’t as diverse and up-to-date as a university or city library. That’s when bookstores come in. I don’t often go to them to purchase books, but rather, to sift through the many options and curate a reading list! And since we’re on the honesty train, I feel compelled to admit that I’ve spent many hours silently gushing over cookbooks and travel memoirs at bookstores (if you get a chance, look through Tasting Rome and The Times' Melissa Clark's Dinner: Changing the Game).